The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, have made a public plea to people in the Russian city of Kursk to share any evidence they have.

The BUK missile which hit the plane was launched by the 53rd brigade of the Russian army stationed in Kursk, and troops who were part of that unit are particularly urged to hand over photos, videos and official documents.

The JIT has sent the letter to a number of addresses and circulated it on Russian social media.

In addition, two videos were made and uploaded to YouTube. One features a veteran saying that it is as important for the relatives of the victims to know what happened to their loved ones as it was for the relatives of Soviet troops killed during World War II.

The second video shows the parents of an Australian victim who are former Soviet Union citizens.

The JIT is continuing to investigate the crash which killed all 298 passengers on board but need more information, head of Dutch national criminal investigations division Andy Kraag told broadcaster NOS.

Four men from Russia and Ukraine are currently on trial in the Netherlands accused of causing the plane to crash and murdering everybody on board. The case file already runs to more than 40,000 pages and over 100 documents.

‘We want to know who was part of the crew that launched the missile, what their brief was and who briefed them. And above all we want to know the reason why they targeted a civilian plane’ he told the broadcaster.

The letter and videos are not related to the trial of four men for their role in the case  which will be resumed on Monday.